Cerro Añon Reserva

Cerro Añón is Olarra's top range, a coupage drawn from vineyards across Rioja rather than from one zone. The Reserva is 85% Tempranillo, with Mazuelo and Graciano making up the remaining 15%, and no Garnacha, unlike the Crianza.

Eighteen days on skins with daily pump-overs, then a malolactic split between new 225-litre casks and concrete. Twenty months in barrel - about two thirds American oak, the rest French Allier, in casks running from new to seven years old and racked regularly - then eighteen months in bottle before release - well past the single year in oak the Reserva rules require.

2019 was a low-yielding year in Rioja: less vigour in the vineyard, looser bunches, smaller berries, and wines that came in balanced and firmly structured with very good colour. Olarra picked at the end of September with good phenolic and alcoholic ripeness. Dry, 14%.